IT solution providers can amplify their market impact by understanding that analysts’ impact differs greatly between countries. Services companies and solution providers often look at analysts through the lens of thought leadership: both market intelligence teams, which consume analyst insight, and analyst relations teams, which aim to inform it. However, because most analyst firms write about global markets many executives underestimate national differences in analysts’ impact.
Two great examples of this are Ovum (where I was an analyst, during the dot.com boom) and TechMarketView (where several Ovum alumni ended up working). Both of these are certainly organizations with a global viewpoint. Many UK analyst firms produce most of their revenue abroad and, indeed, the UK might not even be their largest market. However, the size of the UK market and the growing concentration of the population south and east of Birmingham means that British firms have a remarkable impact on their domestic market.
The results of Kea Company’s Analyst Value Survey illustrate that perfectly. UK users of analyst research report that they use Ovum more than IDC and TechMarketView more than 451 or HfS (two of the five firms most used in the USA, for example). Interesting, TechMarketView punches even further above its weight in terms of paying subscribers. Its deal value might be lower than Ovum’s, but a higher percentage of its UK readers are paying for subscriptions. Participants in the Analyst Value Survey said that TechMarketView’s impressive impact on the UK market reflects higher influence on journalists, investors and their customers than Ovum or IDC.
TechMarketView is not an extreme example. The same pattern is found in other countries: for example, CXP Group’s Pierre Audoin Consultants is one of the two top firms in France and the three top firms in Germany.
These firms are often hidden champions, but services providers overlook them at their peril. Users value these firms highly for many reasons, but their understanding of national regulations, culture, and market realities are clearly significant. Both market intelligence budgets and analyst relations outreach need to take account of national leaders.
